


How to Save a Life

by firegrilled



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Amputee!Eren, Angst, Best Friends, M/M, Shit Hitting the Fan, Unrequited Love, non-cannon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 18:33:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5174771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firegrilled/pseuds/firegrilled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin is roommates to boyfriends Eren and Jean, and has dealt with the shenanigans that come with living with the two. Despite liking both boys more than he should, he keeps his emotions to himself and finds a girl to date. For one month he's in complete relationship bliss until it all comes crashing down one Saturday night when Marco appears at their door.</p><p>An imagining of what could go wrong between best friends and confused college kids in love. </p><p>This in the same vein as Don't Wait but an alternative ending of the dispute at the end of chapter 2. This is not canon to tat story and never will be canon to that story bc I'm not that cruel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Save a Life

**Author's Note:**

> _Where did I go wrong?  
>  I lost a friend  
> Somewhere along in the bitterness  
> And I would have stayed up with you all night  
> Had I known how to save a life_
> 
>  
> 
> -The Fray

“Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?” Armin asked, his patience starting to run thin. He blew gently on his hot chocolate as everyone else tentatively sipped at their own cups. Marco, Jean, Eren, and Armin exchanged glances before Marco took a deep breath.

“Hannah Diamant, the one you’ve been dating for a month now, has been engaged to my best friend for the last two years.” Marco spoke steadily, yet he was unable to bring his eyes to meet Armin’s.

“What?”

“You’ve been dating someone who's engaged to someone else.” Eren repeated for his best friend.

“I’m- I’m a home wrecker?” Armin went wide-eyed as he started to process all of this. “But what does this have to do with Marco? Why were you apologizing Eren?”

Eren hesitated to answer as the guys continued to stare at the ground.

“I knew.” Eren confessed after a long moment of silence.

The atmosphere in the room became tense as Armin took in that bit of information.

“How long did you know?” Armin’s voice had an eerie calm tone. He was fully upright in his bed, eyes almost as cold as ice.

Eren felt his blood go cold as he recognized that gaze. It was Armin’s so-livid-he’s-calm look, something he never imagined he would be on the receiving end of. He knew he couldn’t lie to Armin, the blond had known him for far too long.

“Since the beginning.”

Armin’s movements were sharp and pointed as he got out of bed. He walked over to the closet and grabbed his coat and shoes, also grabbing a second pair and walking over to Eren’s and jean’s bed. He tossed Eren’s sneakers at him and grabbed his prosthetic leg. “Put these on. We need to talk.”

Jean and Marco offered worried looks at Eren, who merely shook his head. He quickly put on his leg and shoes, grabbing Jean’s hoodie as he stood up. “I’ll be fine. But Marco, please explain everything to Jean.”

\---

The walk through the dorm was overwhelmingly silent for a Saturday night, technically Sunday morning, only further creeping Eren out. Armin walked ahead of him, just far enough to be unable to see his expression, but not enough to awkwardly out of reach. Everything about Armin’s movements were calculated and that only further stressed Eren out.

Eventually they made it out of the dorm and Armin lead his childhood friend towards the busy street. Revelers could be heard shouting drunken ramblings at each other, contrasting the somber and quiet atmosphere of the dorm hallways.

“Sit down, Eren.” Armin gestured to the bench. Eren carefully followed the orders and Armin sat on the ground in front of him.

Eren trembled as Armin had a tiny, polite smile on his face. His cold blue eyes served as a counterpoint to the fake smile on his face. Eren was expecting an angry, emotional, and teary-eyed Armin, but instead he got the opposite. Stoic, ambivalent, but nonetheless pissed.

“Armin, I-!” Eren tried to begin.

“Relax, Eren, it’s just a talk.” His voice was as void of emotion as his expression was.

“Just a talk? I-I-I-” Eren tried to think of a way to apologize, but his words slipped him at the moment.

“Betrayed my trust? Our friendship? Yeah, you did.” Venom began to leech into Armin’s voice, just enough to send chills down Eren’s spine.

“No, I couldn’t tell you. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.”

Silence fell between the two childhood friends as Armin scanned Eren’s face. He noticed his lips quivering, eyes beginning to water, and most importantly, the undeniable look of fear in his emerald eyes. The warm welcoming turquoise was replaced by dim green orbs.

“Why?” He finally asked the lingering question.

“Because she threatened to destroy Marco’s engagement. I was afraid what would happen if that fell through for him. He’s already-” Eren began to explain.

“Marco?” Armin interrupted, emotion finally returning. Eren cold pick up the hurt in his voice, the sadness, the utter betrayal.

“Yes Marco.”

Armin’s fake smile fell as he started to shake his head. Now tears were starting to glisten in the corner of his eyes. “It’s always fucking Marco Bodt with you and Jean.”

“’Min…”

“DON’T MIN ME, EREN JAEGER!” Armin shouted at him, causing him to recoil from shock at the yell. Never in all his years of knowing the boy did he have an outburst like that. “I’ve always been there for you through thick and thin. I was at your side when you lost your damn leg, I was at your side during your mother’s funeral when you were crying tears, and I was there when you came out to the world. I was the first person you told. You never went to Jean, or Mikasa, or even _Marco fucking Bodt_. I have given so much to this friendship, and when you know that I’ve been dating a girl who’s engaged, you just let it happen?”

Eren trembled at the volume and amount of details Armin was throwing at him, just listing them off things on a grocery list. Things he had Eren with.

“You let me be a homewrecker for one month. One month of false smiles, one month of awkward congratulations, one month of constant lies. We live together! You lied to me every day for the last goddamn month! For what? An engagement that was just as fake! We all knew he didn’t want to get married, and it would’ve been easier to get him out of it.”

“But you know he’s barely keeping it together. I couldn’t be the one to push him over the edge! You were happy and I hoped you’d see through that bitch.”

Armin mustered his best glare at his friend before suddenly standing up. He clenched his fists at his sides before walking in the opposite direction of Eren. Jumping to his feet, Eren bolted after Armin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t touch me! You have no right to call her a bitch, especially for letting it go on so long. Marco would’ve been sad, sure, but he would’ve recovered. It would’ve stung, but think of where he’d be right now. That was one month of recovery he could’ve had. One month I could’ve focused my time on something else.” Armin was now shaking from anger, tears finally escaping his eyes. “Time isn’t infinite, Eren. College is only so long and I just wasted a good chunk of my life chasing after a lie. A lie you could’ve saved me from!”

Eren tried to defend himself in vain. “My hands were tied!”

“No they weren’t! Your priorities were tied up in the wrong order though.” Armin corrected him. “You knew. You kept it secret from me. You lied to me. Hannah may have taken one month from me, but you allowed that to happen. What am I to you, honestly?”

Eren was taken aback by the accusation, but he knew he deserved it. He knew what he had done and this was the price. “You’re my best friend. You said it yourself, you were there through all my lows and you mean so much to me.”

He finally met Armin’s eyes and only found them as icy as before. Armin had regained control of his composure and reverted back to his stoic appearance from before. “Just checking. I now know what all that means to you. If that’s how you treat your best friends, then fuck you. I don’t want that anymore.”

“But-”

“No buts, no more words, no apologies. If going through all of that means so little to you, then I’m done. I quit.”

With those words, Armin’s entire façade came crashing down in the waterfall of tears from his eyes. Eren reached out once again. “Please, ‘Min. I care about you!”

“No you don’t and you don’t have the right to say that!” Armin wrenched his arm out of Eren’s grasp and slowly backed away. “I can’t believe I fucking love you. That just makes it hurt so much worse.”

The last words froze Eren in place as Armin realized what he said. Eren’s best friend spun away and sprinted towards the street, completely unaware of the oncoming pick-up truck.

“Armin!” Eren shouted, causing Armin to finally look into the oncoming car. Unfortunately he froze like a deer in headlights as the car didn’t even so much as slow down. The next few seconds passed like an eternity for Eren as he watched the impact happen. His blood ran cold as his knees buckled, falling to the ground. His senses dulled to the sounds of screams and shouts around him, only his vision focusing on the limp body of his childhood friend lying in the street.

Armin’s icy blues eyes were glazed over, staring off in a direction away from Eren. He wanted to shout for his best friend, but no voice came. He wanted to crawl over to check on him, but no movement came. He wanted to cry, but no tears came.

He wanted to tell him that he also loved him, but the opportunity never would come.

**Author's Note:**

> And now we see the irony in the title :D
> 
> If you made it to the end of this, more power to you. This is the furthest I've ever gone to writing something this cruel and there's a reason this is not canon for Don't Wait. You all can thank c0cunt and artsmsh for this.
> 
> For Happy Endings and humor, check out my other stuff. Seriously, they are not this depressing and I only did this to spite a friend. And they're probably better written.
> 
> All comments, feedback, kudos, and such are appreciated. Feel free to scream and threaten me on here or on my [tumblr](http://firegrilled.tumblr.com/)


End file.
